from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

n. A peddler, a travelling hawker.

adj. shabby

Etymologies

From cheap +‎ Jack. (Wiktionary)

Examples

We have a second skirmish prepared, in which, once again, you can listen and choose between two related Fab Four deception records tooled to cash in on that whole British Invasion "fad," this time released on the cheapjack Diplomat label.

I can even find a place in my heart for Larry Buchanan's cheapjack DAY THE WORLD ENDED redux IN THE YEAR 2889 1967 , although it brings to mind less the End of the World as We Know It than the wasted, tedious nights I spent with college friends waiting in a dreary Wooster Square basement flat for their cocaine dealer to show.

I thought his favor was excessive; certainly I never thought their powers were any more real than those cheapjack toadstone-peddlers or the granny-wives who claim they can put a bad word on someone's cow.

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Comments

"'It's all right,' Sam explained blandly, pointing to the blackboard. 'I told you this fellow was only a cheapjack, one of those lads you see at the fair, selling imitation jewellery. You'll see it all in a minute.'"- Frank O'Connor, 'The Cheapjack'.